I am new to this forum and have enjoyed reading thus far. Forgive me if I am asking a stupid question, but...

How did Michael get the black eye in Sicily?

Welcome, Don Matteo! Michael didn't get the black eye in Sicily. It was a result of McCluskey breaking his jaw earlier in New York.

Could the black eye have been the result of the operation to fix his jaw? Do we know if Michael got operated on in Sicily or when he got back? Fredo comments how good he looks, "that doctor did some job, your face looks great!"

I'm no expert on bruises but the black eye must have been caused by either Turnbull's or MaryKas's theories.

It's wierd but I've seen broken noses caused black eyes. I'd assume a punch good enough to shatter someones jaw will be sufficient to bruise the eye area.

The GF novel goes into much greater detail about how McCluskey's punch left Michael visibly disfigured in the face, his nose off center and cheekbone misshapen and with a constantly running nose that he had to continually wipe with a handkerchief.

In the movie, the black-eye and a few flashes of him dabbing his nose with a hanky are as far as it goes.

In both the book and the movie, of course, he later has this corrected by surgery.

And not in Sicily, either. In Sicily, Michael stays with Dr. Taza, an incompetent who got his medical degree through the intervention of Don Tomassino. Taza offers to operate on Michael, but he wisely demurs, diplomatically telling Taza that his disfigurement is "something from home." He gets surgery only after he returns home and marries Kay.

I had a broken jaw in feb/mar no fun at all.
Really no fun.

I had a broken jaw in feb/mar no fun at all.
Really no fun.